TD 

I   O  0>  IT     •  UC-NRLF 


22.5 


B  ^  530  460 


Prof.   E.J.V/ickson 


IN  THE  MATTER 


Application  of  San  Francisco 

for  Reservoir  Rights 

of  Way 


BRIEF  OF  THE 

MODESTO  WATER  CONSUMERS 
ASSOCIATION 


MODESTO, 

STANISLAUS  COUNTY, 
CALIFORNIA. 


a 


a 


Iii  the  matter  of  Application  of  San  Francisco  for 
Reservoir  Rights  of  Way  at  the  Head  Waters  of 
the  Tuolimine: 

Modesto,  Cal.,  September  10th,  1907. 

Hon.  James  R.  Garfield, 
Secretary   of  the   Interior. 

Dear  Sir:  — 

The  Modesto  Water  Consumers  Association  re- 
spectfully submit  the  following  reasons  why  they 
cannot  share  the  waters  of  the  Tuolumne  with  San 
Francisco: 

In  the  first  place,  the  question  is  not  at  issue 
whether  there  is  or  is  not  water  enough  discharg- 
ed by  the  Tuolumne  to  supply  all  parties,  but 
whether  there  is  an  available  supply. 

We  claim  to  be  able  to  prove  that  there  is  not 
now,  nor  will  there  ever  be,  enough  water  impound- 
ed by  means  of  reservoirs  to  supply  San  Francisco 
and  the  Modesto  and  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts 
(See  Exhibit  "A"),  and  if  there  is  not  enough  res- 
ervoir water  for  the  two  districts  when  San  Fran- 
cisco appropriates  the  only  two  eligible  reservoir 
sites,  Hetch-Hetchy  and  Lake  Eleanor,  how  can  it 


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be  possible  to  supply  the  240,000  acres  of  irrigable 
land  outside  of  the  two  districts  (See  Exhibit  "B" 
and  map)  with  the  indispensable  supply  of  water? 

Our  irrigation  system,  which  has  been  initiated 
at  the  cost  of  millions  of  dollars,  will  not  be  com- 
plete nor  will  it  ever  be  worth  the  price  already 
paid,  if  we  are  denied  the  privilege  of  completing 
our  system  by  the  building  or  reservoirs  where  we 
had  at  first  designed — at  Hetch-Hetchy  and  Lake 
Eleanor.  Why  at  these  reservoirs  sites?  Because 
they  can  be  made  to  impound  more  than  one-half 
as  much  water  as  all  of  the  other  dozen  on  the  Tu- 
olumne  watershed.  Mr.  Marsden  Manson  stated 
before  the  irrigators  at  Modesto  on  August  20th, 
that  the  districts  could  impound  their  waters  in 
other  reservoirs  on  the  Tuolumne,  but  all  of  the 
others — eleven  of  them — would  only  impound 
132,545  acre  feet,  when  the  requirements  for  the 
two  districts,  during  the  dry  months  of  July,  Au- 
gust and  September,  would  call  for  281,351  acre 
feet  from  reservoirs,  together  with  127,840  acre 
feet,  the  normal  flow  of  Tuolumne  during  July 
August  and  September  averaged  for  the  seven 
years  between  and  inclusive  of  1896  and  1902, 
(See  California  Hydrography  by  J.  B.  Lippincott, 
Page  389.) 

In  other  words,  the  two  districts  would  get  only 
water  enough  during  the  three  dry  months  for 
85,000  acres  out  of  257,353  acres,  were  all  of  the 
reservoirs  to  be  utilized  outside  of  Hetch-Hetchy 
and  Lake  Eleanor.  Mr.  Manson  says  that  in  his 
opinion  other  reservoir  sites  besides  these  above 
referred  to  will  be  discovered,  but  is  it  likely  that 


those  conducting  the  Government  Geologic  survey 
would  have  overlooked  any  reservoir  sites  worthy 
the  name  after  estimating  upon  such  insignificant 
sites  as  Hull  Meadows  with  its  2160  acre  feet  and 
Errara's  Meadows  with  its  1070  acre  feet  and  the 
other  small  reservoir  sites?  I  think  not,  at  least 
we  can  say  that  here  is  a  case  of  mere  conjecture 
on  the  part  of  Mr.  Manson  confronted  by  cold  facts 
on  the  other  side.  But,  even  granting  that  a  few 
more  reservoirs  could  be  discovered,  it.  would  take 
more  than  double  the  eleven  to  supply  the  necessa- 
ry storage  water  for  the  districts,  to  say  nothing  of 
that  vast  extent  of  irrigable  land  outside  of  the  dis- 
tricts which  in  time  will  demand  all  the  water  of 
the  Tuolumne,  could  every  drop  be  impounded. 

Again  where  is  the  justice  in  demanding  that  we 
obtain  our  meager  and  inadequate  supply  of  water 
from  numerous  ponds,  necessitating  a  small  army 
of  attendants,  and  an  outlay  of  a  large  sum  of 
money,  to  build  and  keep  up  the  works  and  defray 
running  expenses? 

Mr.  Manson  stated  at  the  recent  interview  with 
the  irrigators  in  Modesto  that  the  reason  the  City 
of  San  Francisco  had  applied  for  reservoir  privi- 
leges on  the  Tuolumne  was  that  all  the  Water 
Companies  that  proposed  to  furnish  water  had  done 
so  at  exorbitant  rates,  but  it  would  well  pay  San 
Francisco  to  pay  ten  prices  to  some  water  com- 
pany, than  to  force  its  supply  from  a  semi-arid  re- 
gion like  ours,  because  our  section  is,  by  reason  of 
its  geographic  position,  tributary  to  San  Francisco, 
and  must  continue  for  all  time  to  pour  its  irrigat- 
ed treasures  into  her  lap.  It  follows  then,  that  she 


— 4— 

is  now  blindly  seeking  to  cut  off  and  cast  away  the 
treasures  designed  for  her  own  enrichment. 

What  is  to  become  of  prescriptive  rights  if  we 
who  were  here  first  and  underwent  years  of  priva- 
tion and  conflict  with  the  anti-irrigationists  to  es- 
tablish one  of  the  grandest  and  best  samples  of  a 
co-operative  irrigation  system,  if  we  were  to  be 
told  by  that  benign  government  that  is  fostering 
irrigation  projects  everywhere,  "Get  to  the  rear  and 
thankfully  receive  any  water  that  San  Francisco 
may  have  to  spare!"  Mr.  Manson  demands  for  San 
Francisco  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  annual  discharge 
of  the  river.  The  annual  discharge  averaged  for 
seven  years  from  1896  to  1902  inclusive  (See  Cali- 
fornia Hydrography  by  J.  B.  Lippincott)  is 
1,746,234  acre  feet,  and  fifteen  per  cent  of  this 
amount  equals  261,935  acre  feet.  This  includes 
224,182  acre  feet,  the  maximum  for  domestic  pur- 
poses, and  37,753  acre  feet  for  the  generation  of 
power. 

All  of  the  reservoirs  combined  on  the  Tuolumne 
can  impound  only  20  6-10  per  cent  of  the  annual 
discharge  of  the  river.  Hetch-Hetchy  and  Lake 
Eleanor  together  will  hold,  the  first  with  a  200- 
foot  dam  and  the  latter  with  a  150  foot  dam,  224,- 
182  acre  feet  and  all  the  rest — eleven  of  them — 
are  estimated  to  hold  only  132,545  acre  feet.  The 
sum  equals  356,727  acre  feet,  which  .is  20  4-10  per 
cent  of  the  annual  flow  cf  1,746,234  acre  feet  (See 
California  Hydrography  by  Lippincott  P.  389  and 
Survey  plat  in  Book  No.  4).  Of  this  20  6-10 
per  cent  the  San  Francisco  Supervisors  demand  fif- 
teen per  cent,  or  three-fourths.  If  they  obtain  it, 


the  irrigation  districts  wiil  not  be  able  to  irrigate 
one-half  of  their  area  when  water  is  most  needed  i. 
e.  in  July,  August  and  September.  The  irrigation 
districts  will  need  during  the  latter  half,  which 
is  the  dryest  half  of  the  irrigation  season  of  six 
months,  409,191  acre  feet,  which  is  obtained  by 
multiplying  the  depth  of  irrigation  3.18  feet  (See 
Exhibit  "C"),  acco'rding  to  the  number  of  second 
feet  appropriated  in  the  two  districts  (2250)  by 
the  number  of  acres  257,353  acres,  and  the  product 
is  as  above,  409,191  acre  feet.  From  this  product 
we  deduct  127,840  acre  feet,  the  average  quantity 
that  flows  during  July,  August  and  September  (See 
P.  389  Cal.  Hydrography)  for  this  is  also  made 
use  of  by  the  districts,  and  the  difference,  281,351 
acre  feet,  is  what  the  districts  must  get  from  the 
reservoirs  to  make  out  the  small  appropriation  of 
2250  second  feet.  This  281,351  second  feet  is 
16  1-10  per  cent  of  the  entire  flow  of  the  river.  If 
we  use  it,  San  Francisco  people  will  get  less  than 
a  third  of  what  they  will  require.  Please  note  that 
this  demand  on  the  full  reservoirs  by  the  districts 
from  July  1st  is  in  addition  to  the  water  furnished 
by  the  river  in  continual  flow  during  the  hottest 
and  dryest  part  of  the  irrigation  season. 

Ten  thousand  acres  are  now  knocking  at  the 
door  of  the  Turlock  District  for  admission,  and  they 
will  soon  be  taken  in,  and  I  understand  that  peo- 
ple east  of  the  Modesto  District  with  10,000  to 
15,000  acres  more,  will  apply  to  be  admitted  into 
the  Modesto  District.  When  these  additions  shall 
have  been  made,  the  two  districts  will  exactly  take 
20  per  cent  of  the  entire  flow  of  the  Tuolumne, 


— 6 — 

and  that  means  the  entire  available  supply  from 
reservoirs,  so  that  about  200,000  acres  outside  of 
the  two  irrigation  districts  will  be  barred  out  of 
any  reservoir  privileges,  under  the  most  favorable 
circumstances.  It  has  been  suggested  that  we  re- 
sort to  winter  irrigation,  to  offset  the  disadvantage 
of  a  scarcity  of  water  later  in  the  season,  but  those 
that  have  practiced  it  though  reaping  somewhat  of 
an  advantage  in  the  early  part  of  the  seasons  have 
been  compelled  to  use  water  just  as  freely  toward 
the  latter  part  of  the  season  for  then  the  ground 
gets  very  dry  by  the  hot  sun  and  the  descicating 
winds,  and  from  July  1st  on  we  need  even  more  than 
the  full  share  of  the  appropriation. 

The  navigability  of  the  San  Joaquin  River  is  a 
great  desideratum,  the  taking  away  of  the  waters 
of  the  Tuolumne,  as  Mr.  Phelan  of  San  Francisco 
proposes,  will  render  the  San  Joaquin  innavigable 
to  a  greater  extent  than  it  is;  whereas,  the  water 
used  in  irrigation  on  either  side  of  the  river  finds 
its  way  directly  or  by  under  ground  currents  either 
into  the  Tuolumne  again  or  into  the  San  Joaquin. 
If  San  Francisco  would  obtain  her  water  supply 
from  some  tributary  of  the  Sacramento  she  would 
confer  a  real  benefit  on  the  State  of  California  by 
helping  to  prevent  destructive  floods  without  inter- 
fering with  navigation  or  with  irrigators. 

Our  people  are  virtually  a  unit  in  opposition  to 
Mr.  Phelan's  water  scheme.  (See  Exhibit  "D"). 

We  especially  call  your  attention  to  the  follow- 
ing circumstances  likely  to  occur:  San  Francisco, 
if  permitted  to  build  reservoirs  at  Hetch-Hetchy 


and  Lake  Eleanor,  will  on  the  plea  of  preserving 
the  purity  of  the  waters,  cause  to  be  fenced  about 
five  hundred  square  males  of  watershed  above  those 
reservoirs  and  in  that  case  she  would  surely  eject 
all  campers  within  the  area  above  mentioned  as 
trespassers  thus  defeating  one  object  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  setting  apart  the  lands  comprising  the  Na- 
tional Park.  The  object  having  in  view  the  pleas- 
ure and  recreation  of  the  people,  whereas,  if  the 
reservoirs  are  reserved  for  irr.igation  purposes,  full 
liberty  to  the  people  would  still  be  given  as  de- 
signed. 

Mr.  Marsden  Manson  and  Mr.  Galloway,  engi- 
neers sent  to  Modesto  by  the  San  Francisco  Board 
of  Supervisors  to  interview  the  irrigators  of  Mo- 
desto and  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts  on  the 
Hetch-Hetchy  scheme,  very  frankly  stated  that  San 
Francisco  wanted  Hetch-Hetchy  and  Lake  Eleanor 
for  reservoir  purposes  and  desired  to  obtain  abso- 
lute control  of  the  same  with  no  compromise  to 
make  regarding  the  division  of  water,  in  utter  dis- 
regard of  the  rights  of  irrigators;  thus  showing  an 
entire  change  of  front  from  that  maintained  at 
the  hearing  on  the  24th  of  July  in  San  Francisco, 
when  Mr.  Manson  emphatically  assured  you  that 
San  Francisco  was  willing  to  grant  reasonable  con- 
cessions. 

We  also  would  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  initiatory  steps  have  been  taken  whereby  Oak- 
land is  to  share  in  the  water  from  Hetch-Hetchy 
should  your  Honor  permit  the  diversion  of  the  wa- 
ters of  the  Tuolumne  to  San  Francisco.  The  privi- 
lege of  sharing  said  waters  no  doubt  in  time  to  be 


extended  to  Berkeley  and  Alameda  as  the  Super- 
visors of  San  Francisco  once  designed,  which  would 
of  course  aggravate  the  injury  to  our  irrigators. 

In  the  light  of  these  facts  and  figures  how  can 
we  complete  our  irrigation  system  without  stor- 
age? 

How  can  San  Francisco  afford  to  put  a  blight 
upon  a  region  of  country  whence  she  is  to  draw  her 
greatest  prizes? 

V.  E.  BANGS,  President, 
A.    C.    BOYLE,    Secretary, 

Modesto   Water   Consumers    Association. 

EXHIBIT   "A". 

Reservoir  sites  on  the  Tijolumne  estimated  by 
U.  S.  Geological  Survey: 

Hetch-Hetchy,  dam  150  feet  high,  containing 
107,426  acre  feet. 

Lake  Eleanor,  dam  95  feet  high,  containing 
47,290  acre  feet. 

Lake   Vernon,   containing    21,080    acre   feet. 
Big  Meadows,  containing  11,000  acre  feet. 
Tuolumne  Meadows,  containing  43,185  acre  feet 
Coffin  Hollow,  containing  2,200  acre  feet. 
Granite  Lake,  containing  3,300  acre  feet. 
Hull's  Meadows,   containing   2,160   acre  feet. 
Errara's  Meadows,  containing  1,070  acre  feet. 
Cherry  Valley,  containing  2,500  acre  feet. 
Bell's  Meadows,  containing  6,300  acre  feet. 
Emigrants  Lake,  containing  14,250   acre  feet. 
Huckelberry   Lake,   containing   25,500    acre   feet. 


9 _ 

EXHIBIT  "B". 

On  page  25  of  "Agricultural  Features  of  Cali- 
fornia" by  E.  W.  Hilgard,  Professor  of  Agriculture 
in  the  California  University,  published  in  1884,  we 
find  the  following  reference  to  the  Tuolumne:  "The 
Tuolumne  River  comes  from  the  mountains 
through  a  most  forbidding  canon  ******  por 
thirty  of  the  forty-two  miles  of  the  river's  course  .it 
is  bordered  by  plains  sufficiently  even  in  surface  to 
admit  of  irrigation  on  a  large  scale  to  advant- 
age, having  soils  particularly  adapted  to  the  prac- 
tice." 

The  width  of  the  two  irrigation  districts,  one  on 
each  side  of  the  Tuolumne,  is  over  twenty-two 
miles.  Multiply  twenty-two  by  thirty  and  we  ob- 
tain the  product  660  square  miles  which  reduced  to 
acres  equal  422,400. 

As  to  the  foot  hills  along  the  Tuolumne  we  have 
the  following  statement  on  the  authority  of  the 
Committe  on  Arid  Lands  of  the  California  Board  of 
Trade,  1889:  "Nearly  all  of  the  foot  hill  country 
of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  not  only  irrigable  but  is 
wonderfully  productive  when  irrigated."  (Page 
11  of  Report  of  Committee  on  Arid  Lands  of  Cal. 
Board  of  Trade). 

It  may  be  seen  from  the  showing  that  the  irriga- 
ble area  along  the  Tuolumne  could  be  extended  to 
500,000  acres. 

EXHIBIT    "C". 

That  your  Honor  may  see  at  a  glance  that  3.18 
feet  depth  of  .irrigation  entered  at  La  Grange  dam 


— 10 — 

is   not   excessive,   I   call   attention   to  the  following 
statistics: 

From  Pecos  River,  New  Mexico,  6.61  feet.  Part 
3rd,  371.  Report  from  U.  S.  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture Bulletin  86.  The  use  of  Water  in  Ir- 
rigation. Page  108. 

Green  Ditch,  Utah,  4.52  feet.  Part  3rd,  371.  Re- 
port from  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  Bul- 
letin 86.  The  use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.  Page 
207. 

Upper  Canal,  Utah,  6.30  feet.  Part  3rd,  371.  Re- 
port from  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  Bul- 
letin 86.  The  use  of  Water  in  Irrigation.  Page 
206. 

Mesa  Canal,  Arizona  1896,  4.92  feet.  Part  2d, 
370.  Reprint  from  U.  S.  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture Bulletin  86,  page  117.  The  Use  of  Water 
in  Irrigation. 

1897,  4.93  feet.  Same  as  preceding  authority. 

1898,  4.08  feet.  Same  as  preceding  authority. 

Poplar  Ditch,  Cal.,  1904,  3.19  feet,  Part  2d,  547. 
Reprint  from  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Office  of  Experiment  Station.  Bulletin  119.  Page 
169. 

Piano  Ditch,  Cal.,  7.91  feet.  Reprint  from  U.  S. 
Department  of  Agriculture.  Office  of  Experiment 
Station.  Bulletin  119.  Page  170. 

Pleasant  Valley  Ditch,  Cal.,  6.31  feet.  Reprint  from 
U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  Office  of  Exper- 
iment Station.  Bulletin  119.  Page  179. 

South  Tule  Independent  Ditch,  Cal.,  7.46  feet.  Re- 
print from  IT.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture. 
Office  of  Experiment  Station.  Bulletin  119.  Page 
182. 

San  Saba  River,  Texas,  1  cu.  ft.  to  44  acres,  8.25 
feet.  Water  Supply  and  Irrigation  paper  No. 
71.  Irrigation  Systems  of  Texas  by  Thomas  W. 
Taylor.  Page  32. 

NOTE:  The  above  figures  given  as  depth  of  irriga- 
tion do  not  include  the  rainfall. 


— 11 — 

EXHIBIT  "D". 

Following  is  a  list  of  public  bodies  that  at  differ- 
ent times  have  protested  against  the  action  of  San 
Francisco  in  its  endeavor  to  acquire  water  rights 
on  the  Tuolumne:  The  Oakdale  Canal  Company, 
The  University  Farmers  Institute  at  Modesto,  The 
Stanislaus  Board  of  Trade,  The  Board  of  Directors 
of  the  Modesto  and  the  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts, 
The  Republican  Party  in  County  Convention,  The 
Democratic  Party  in  County  Convention,  The  City 
Trustees  of  Modesto,  The  West  Side  Irrigation  As- 
sociation, and  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of  Stanis- 
laus County,  who  passed  unanimously  the  follow- 
ing resolutions  on  March  7,  1904: 

"WHEREAS,  It  has  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
this  Board  that  a  bill  has  been  introduced  in  the 
Senate  of  the  U.  S.  granting  to  San  Francisco  the 
use  of  Lake  Eleanor  and  Hetch-Hetchy  Valley  for 
reservoir  sites; 

"And,  Whereas,  this  county  is  greatly  interested 
in  keeping  a  sufficient  water  supply  for  the  Mo- 
desto and  Turlock  Irrigation  Districts,  and  the  pass- 
ing of  such  act  would  seriously  imperil  the  future 
of  these  districts  and  of  this  county,  be  it 

"RESOLVED,  By  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of 
Stanislaus  County  that  said  board  hereby  expresses 
its  disapproval  of  such  act  and  respectfully  request 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  that 
such  bill  be  not  passed  and  that  in  any  legislation 
enacted,  the  interests  of  this  county  and  of  the  dis- 
tricts be  safeguarded. 


—12 — 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  resolution  be  sent 
to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands  of  the  U.  S.  Sen- 
ate and  to  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Con*" 
gress." 

Recently  the  following  public  bodies  have  pro- 
tested against  the  granting  of  reservoir  sites  to 
San  Francisco: 

Board    of    Supervisors    of   Stanislaus    County. 
Board  of  Trade   of   Stanislaus  County. 
Turlock   Water   Consumers   Association   and 

Mass    Meeting    held    at    Waterford,    Stanislaus 

County. 

Board  of  Trade  of  Turlock. 
Modesto  Water  Consumers  Association. 


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